Tag Honey drinks

A fresh lemon and raw honey, the two base ingredients used to make honey syrup for cocktails

Honey Cocktails 101: Honey Syrup, Bee’s Knees, and Gold Rush

How to make real honey syrup for cocktails, plus the true histories of two classic honey drinks: the Prohibition-era Bee's Knees and the 1999 Gold Rush.

Photo of a glass of fresh lemonade, the base for a simple honey lemonade

Non-Alcoholic Honey Drinks: Switchel, Lemonade, and Soda

Mead isn’t the only honey drink with real history behind it — switchel, a vinegar-and-honey field drink, dates to the 1600s and gets a mention in both Herman Melville and…

Photo of a tasting flight of mead glasses from a licensed commercial meadery

How to License a Meadery: TTB Bonded Winery Permits

Selling mead commercially requires a federal TTB Bonded Winery permit, since mead is legally regulated as wine. Real forms, bond thresholds, costs, and state-licensing steps most guides skip.

September 13, 2026

A flight of several different mead varieties in glasses side by side, representative of how meads are compared and scored at a homebrew competition

How Mead Gets Judged: The BJCP Mead Judge Program Explained

A look at how the BJCP's dedicated Mead Judge Program certifies competition judges and what actually happens on the judging table.

September 12, 2026

Photo of fresh ripe apples on a tree, the seasonal ingredient for a fall apple cyser mead

Best Mead Recipes by Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Traditional mead-making follows the calendar for a practical reason that…

September 11, 2026

A dark, cool wine cellar with racked bottles, the kind of storage environment that protects aging mead from light and temperature swings

Common First-Batch Mead Mistakes to Avoid

Nine specific, avoidable mistakes behind most disappointing first mead batches - including the one with a real safety risk.

September 11, 2026

Scanning electron microscope image of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells budding, the organism responsible for fermenting mead

How Long Does Mead Take to Ferment?

Fermentation takes 2-6 weeks, but a genuinely good mead takes 4-12 months. Here's what controls the timeline, and how to fix a stuck fermentation.

September 11, 2026

A swing-top glass bottle with reusable closure, a beginner-friendly bottling option for homemade mead that skips a separate capper

Mead-Making Equipment: What You Actually Need to Start

An honest equipment list, not a sales pitch: six real essentials for a first batch, what you can substitute from your kitchen, and a realistic cost breakdown.

September 11, 2026